As soon as I arrived, I was overwhelmed. There were over a thousand people waiting in line to go into the conference. But it wasn’t the size of the crowd all jammed into the Port of Miami terminal that was overwhelming; it was who was standing in the line.

A glance to my left, and I saw Angelo Sotira, the visionary founder of deviantArt, the pioneer of social media and picture-sharing platforms. His now 14 million users were sharing pictures, posting profiles and staying in touch with friends years before Flickr, Myspace, Friendster, or Facebook. A glance to the right, and there was Chris Anderson, the leader of the TED organization, a group devoted to sharing ideas through the TED and TEDx conferences and ted.com. Add Gary Vaynerchuk, the best-selling author of Crush It: Why Now Is The Time To Cash In On Your Passion and The Thank You Economy, and the only man who seems to have figured out how to keep social media genuine and human. Then there was Russell Simmons (yes, that Russell Simmons), Shai Agassi, Philip Rosedale, the founder of Second Life, and teams of others.

Standing next to a young woman in line, I asked her what she did. “I run a not-for-profit to help victims of rape in Rwanda,” she replied. Indistinguishable in their shorts, T-shirts, flip-flops and sunglasses, nearly everyone here was doing something to contribute to the world.

This was Summit Series, the annual conference that brings together idealists who run companies, not-for-profits and who collectively are working to leave this world in better condition than when they found it. This was my first time attending the “summer camp for overachievers,” as some sarcastically call it. It was designed to bring together people doing big things in the world to trade ideas, share stories, offer advice, listen, and party (which they do very well).

Why Summit Series happens is clear. There is a clear purpose and it is not grounded in any industry. It is not about taking or getting — it is about sharing. Those who attend, the do-gooders, are often in the minority at other events. They are the small percentage of the general population that preach people before numbers. Those who believe in giving before taking. Everyone at the event is vetted, which means simply signing up and paying the fee is not enough — you have to be “one of us” to attend. The result is that everyone at the event belongs there. Not because of some arbitrary measurement, but because of a set of similar values and beliefs. There is an instant comfort. An instant feeling of acceptance and belonging. This is an entire event of people “like me.” It makes it much easier to meet people. There is no need to come up with an “ice-breaker.” There was no need for a witty remark to start a conversation. No one needed to find a reason to walk up to someone to say hello. The only thing anyone needed to do was stretch out their arm and introduce themselves. Anyone could sit next to anyone at any time and it was all good.

One of the other places I experienced this was at Comic Con. Another event that brings together a group of people, another minority in the general public, to have fun and spend time with “people like me.” When those used to being in the minority are all of a sudden find themselves surrounded by people just like them, it is incredibly comforting and disarming.

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